Annabelle I can't give you a recipe but I have eaten enough to realize that the best cakes are almost all crab. Lots of receipes call for too much flour or breadcrumbs.

When I make mine (and sometimes I peel the crab if in season and not too $$ and most of the time I purchase the solid lump meat from Costco.) (One of the brands is Phillips and I forget the other.) I use the crab, some mayo for cohesion (Hellmans) small amt of celery seed (light touch) dill, salt and pepper and saute in butter. Treating the cakes with kid gloves because I don't use the flour or bread to hold together. I have used an egg but I find there is slight difference if I leave it out and so egg or not - both ways do well. Tarragon lightly is good in the mix too but I don't always use.

There is NO better crab cakes, or crabs, than those in Maryland from the Blue Crabs...
Their meat is so sweet...

I don't like that, nowadays, you go to buy "lump" crab meat--and it comes from Indonesia...
I have eaten it--and it is not bad---but the sweetness of the Blue Crab cannot be compromised...
Besides--all the "lump" crab meat from the Asian countries comes in uniformly shaped, oval, little clumps,
about the size of Plum pit.

Maryland Crab's lump meat is all lumps and chunks...and SO sweet!
Of course--the same crabs here also come from NC and LA...

Anyway---

The recipe I have is quite old and simple...It comes from a Mrs. Fahrling in Southern MD.
I cut it out from the newspaper eons ago--and I still use it...

Mrs. Fahring's Crab Cakes:

1 lb. back fin or lump crab meat--picked over for shells
2 egg whites--whipped to soft peaks
2 Tbs, best quality Mayonnaise (Hellmans)
1 Tbs. regular, yellow mustard.
2 slices day old bread picked or diced up in small bits...
1 tsp, Old Bay Seasoning (MY addition--cause I live in MD and NEED that!)...
Vegetable Oil for frying...about 1" deep in a lg. pan.

Makes about 6 med. sized Crab Cakes...

To Do:

Pick through crab meat for shells--gently...
Whip the 2 egg whites until soft peaks
Mix in the mayo and the Mustard. Mix together a bit...
Add bread pieces and stir just until softened...and let sit for about 5 minutes.
Add Old Bay Seasoning and stir it through
Add Crab Meat and gently lift it through the mix--so as not to break up the lumps...

--Heat Vegetable oil in a lg. skillet to med. hot---
--Make Crab cakes by taking hand-fulls of mixture and, gently tossing it between
hands to to form a ball...Place in hot oil and fry until golden brown--turning once.
--Drain on paper towels and serve immediately...

PS. I have also done this. Why waste the yolks????
When Crab cakes are made---I mix the yolks with a fork--smear some on my hands--
and slather the outside of the crab cakes with the yolk...just to hold it together better...
NO harm done--and NO ingredients wasted!

Here--Crab cakes are eaten with fries and Cole Slaw--or just with crackers...YUM!
Usually, in restaurants, you have a choice of fried--or broiled.
I always choose the broiled...no extra oil covering them...

Try this--and let me know how you liked them..I find that too many crab cakes are
filled with too many fillers and spices, and cracker crumbs, and such. NADA!!!
Simplicity is the secret...

gita,
Being sicilian I am familiar with good sweet crab! as a young teen, I set my traps (with chicken necks) and dropped them before school and when I got home I'd haul in the cages and cook 'em up. But now I have to make due with what I have. Here in NC we get live blue when in season. Phillipps out of baltimore MD probably does import their "wild caught" crab... But it is not in the ovals you describe. It looks good and tastes good and as I said, I am familiar with the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

When I can get fresh, I make a pasta sauce with the crab in the shell. The shell helps with the flavor. If I can't get fresh, I make wee crab "balls" with egg and cheese and crumbs just like a meatball and fry and put in the sauce. If I am energetic, I make with plain garlic and oil--- in the shell...a pain in the tush to peel because the oil runs down to the elbow.

gita,
Being sicilian I am familiar with good sweet crab! as a young teen, I set my traps (with chicken necks) and dropped them before school in the water right in the backyard and when I got home I'd haul in the cages and cook 'em up. But now I have to make due with what I have. Come the right season we crab off the deck at sis in laws house Chesapeak Va inlet. Here in NC we get live blue when in season but I have to buy. Phillipps out of baltimore MD probably does import their "wild caught" packaged crab... But it is not in the ovals you describe. It looks good right proportion just like when taking from the actual crab, and tastes good and as I said, I am familiar with the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

When I can get fresh, I make a pasta sauce with the crab in the shell. The shell helps with the flavor. If I can't get fresh, I make wee crab "balls" with egg and cheese and crumbs just like a meatball and fry and put in the sauce. If I am energetic, I make with plain garlic and oil--- in the shell...a pain in the tush to peel because the oil runs down to the elbow.